Boston Arrival: A Flurry of Emotions and an Overnight Snow Flurry
A few thoughts on my early arrival to Boston.
There has been plenty of coverage, reverance, and remembrance nationally and even more so in the city of Boston regarding last year's Boston Marathon. My emotions have been "all over the place" over the last 72 hours. I made the mistake of watching the National Geographic Channel's docudrama "Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers" on Sunday night. I had all but "blocked out" the negative events of last year's marathon until the images flickered into my bedroom. Some of the coverage I had never seen before including the clip showing the backpack set down in front of Marathon Sports.
We are all ready to move on, and trust me, I'm not one to wallow in the past or misery, but issues I had the month within last year's marathon have resurfaced a bit. On Monday, I was in a semi-catatonic state incapable of focusing on work. I arrived into Boston a few days early and ironically on the one-year anniversary of last year's Boston Marathon. Prior to arriving, I sprang for the in-flight Directv on United to catch the Hynes Convention Center tribute service live. It was emotional, and I'd have to say that Joe Biden's speech had me ready to race the moment I landed. "We own the finish line" reverberated in my head.
After a short run at my hotel, my social media feed started talking about the "copy-cat" moron that paraded down Boylston on Monday. I could have gone back into the abyss, but I was too pumped by the sea-level lungs I had on my short run. I am in town for business and stopped into a local 99 Restaurant for a quiet carb-loaded dinner wearing my 2013 Boston Marathon celebration jacket.
Mind you, I was an hour north of the city itself and I was a stranger in the very local bar...think thick Boston accents with the bartender wearing a Red Sox jersey (watching them lose in the cold to the White Sox,) and the waitress wearing the same delivering my "mashers." (We call them mashed potatoes in Colorado.) Once they spotted the blue and yellow jacket, I went from the ignored out-of-towner to local royalty. They asked if I'd run the race last year..."are you running this year...did you hear about what happened today?" As many of them left and I as I was leaving, they all wished me luck. The magic of the Boston yellow and blue.
I skipped the local beer with dinner and got to bed early with my goal of getting in maximum sleep leading up to the expo on Friday and Saturday. I woke up early on Wednesday with a planned six mile run with some goal pace miles and strides. I also woke up to a fresh blanket of snow in Boston. So much for Spring weather. I did not panic as next Monday is still a long ways off and weather is not something within my control. More importantly, due to my taper, my legs felt fresh as did my lungs. Confidence building as I want to own the finish line!
There has been plenty of coverage, reverance, and remembrance nationally and even more so in the city of Boston regarding last year's Boston Marathon. My emotions have been "all over the place" over the last 72 hours. I made the mistake of watching the National Geographic Channel's docudrama "Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers" on Sunday night. I had all but "blocked out" the negative events of last year's marathon until the images flickered into my bedroom. Some of the coverage I had never seen before including the clip showing the backpack set down in front of Marathon Sports.
We are all ready to move on, and trust me, I'm not one to wallow in the past or misery, but issues I had the month within last year's marathon have resurfaced a bit. On Monday, I was in a semi-catatonic state incapable of focusing on work. I arrived into Boston a few days early and ironically on the one-year anniversary of last year's Boston Marathon. Prior to arriving, I sprang for the in-flight Directv on United to catch the Hynes Convention Center tribute service live. It was emotional, and I'd have to say that Joe Biden's speech had me ready to race the moment I landed. "We own the finish line" reverberated in my head.
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| Sorry for the squinting, but that early sun is bright off the snow. |
After a short run at my hotel, my social media feed started talking about the "copy-cat" moron that paraded down Boylston on Monday. I could have gone back into the abyss, but I was too pumped by the sea-level lungs I had on my short run. I am in town for business and stopped into a local 99 Restaurant for a quiet carb-loaded dinner wearing my 2013 Boston Marathon celebration jacket.
Mind you, I was an hour north of the city itself and I was a stranger in the very local bar...think thick Boston accents with the bartender wearing a Red Sox jersey (watching them lose in the cold to the White Sox,) and the waitress wearing the same delivering my "mashers." (We call them mashed potatoes in Colorado.) Once they spotted the blue and yellow jacket, I went from the ignored out-of-towner to local royalty. They asked if I'd run the race last year..."are you running this year...did you hear about what happened today?" As many of them left and I as I was leaving, they all wished me luck. The magic of the Boston yellow and blue.
I skipped the local beer with dinner and got to bed early with my goal of getting in maximum sleep leading up to the expo on Friday and Saturday. I woke up early on Wednesday with a planned six mile run with some goal pace miles and strides. I also woke up to a fresh blanket of snow in Boston. So much for Spring weather. I did not panic as next Monday is still a long ways off and weather is not something within my control. More importantly, due to my taper, my legs felt fresh as did my lungs. Confidence building as I want to own the finish line!
I'm right there with you Ty. I've been struggling with various emotions all week and I suspect that once I arrive in Boston, they will all come to the fore. Especially when I get to the start line. Best of luck on Monday!!!
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